Washington (CNN) – Members of the Republican National Committee have a busy agenda this week as they gather in Washington to plot midterm election strategy and vote on a series of changes to the presidential nominating process in 2016.

Chris Christie, the under-siege New Jersey governor and possible White House candidate, was far from a central topic of discussion as Republicans began arriving to the meeting on Wednesday. His name, uttered here and there in a few hushed hallway conversations, usually surfaced only when reporters brought it up. And when asked about the still-unfolding political and legal drama in the New Jersey capital of Trenton, some Republicans here declined to talk about Christie at all.

Washington (CNN) – Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Preibus says New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie should remain in his job as chairman of the Republican Governors Association, pushing back on a call from Virginia’s losing GOP gubernatorial candidate for Christie to step down.

“No, not at all,” Preibus told CNN in response to whether he agrees with Ken Cuccinelli’s demand that Christie quit the RGA.

Washington (CNN) – A faction of conservatives will introduce a resolution at this week's meeting of the Republican National Committee urging GOP candidates to speak up about abortion and respond forcefully against Democratic efforts to paint them as anti-woman extremists.

The "Resolution on Republican Pro-Life Strategy," drafted by Delaware National Committeewoman Ellen Barrosse and co-sponsored by 15 other RNC members, urges the party organization to "support Republican pro-life candidates who fight back against Democratic deceptive 'war on women' rhetoric by pointing out the extreme positions on abortion held by Democratic opponents."FULL POST

(CNN) - In what may be a sign to come for the midterm elections, Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan of North Carolina, who faces a tough re-election battle this year, stayed far away from President Barack Obama's visit to her home state on Wednesday.

(CNN) – While some Republicans are taking a wait-and-see approach on the question of whether New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie knew about the now-famous plot to close access lanes to the nation’s busiest bridge, the chairman of the Republican National Committee said Sunday he doubts investigators will find any direct link between Christie and the politically motivated scheme.

“I don't think there will be one,” Reince Priebus said. “Because I think we've got a really smart person in Chris Christie, who's a former U.S. attorney, who understands what's out there.”FULL POST

Washington (CNN) – There's no let-up in the new year in the GOP push to attack Democrats over Obamacare during the midterm elections.

Case in point: New radio ads announced Tuesday morning by the Republican National Committee that attack 12 Democratic senators and representatives, many of whom are in competitive races this November. The ads focus on President Barack Obama's broken pledge that people who liked their health insurance plans could keep them under the Affordable Care Act.FULL POST

Washington (CNN) - The Republican National Committee is once again setting its sights on Vice President Joe Biden.

The party committee Monday put out an email and research brief release, "A Walk Down Biden's Memory Lane," which highlights news reports of some of the gaffes from the Vice President's failed bid for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. It's the third time since August that the RNC has attacked Biden's future presidential aspirations.

Washington (CNN) – The Republican National Committee will free up a couple of hours during its winter meeting this January so members can attend the annual March for Life in Washington, CNN confirmed Monday.

The rally, a major event in the anti-abortion rights movement, is scheduled for January 22, when the three-day RNC winter meeting is set to begin. The date also marks the 41st anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court ruling, known as Roe v. Wade, in favor of abortion rights .FULL POST

Washington (CNN) – A handful of Republican Party officials is quietly advancing a new batch of rules aimed at streamlining a chaotic presidential nominating process that many party insiders viewed as damaging to the their campaign for the White House in 2012, multiple GOP sources told CNN.

In a series of closed-door meetings since August, handpicked members of the Republican National Committee have been meeting with party Chairman Reince Priebus in Washington to hash out details of a sweeping plan to condense the nominating calendar, severely punish primary and caucus states that upend the agreed-upon voting order and potentially move the party's national convention to earlier in the summer, with late June emerging as the ideal target date.

(CNN) – As the Republican National Committee has been working to expand its outreach to African-Americans, it now finds itself playing defense after a well-intentioned but unpolished tweet honoring the legacy of Rosa Parks seemed to ignite some backlash.

The RNC on Sunday, commemorating the day Parks was arrested in 1955, sent out a tweet to recognize the civil rights activist.FULL POST